Getting a Technology System in Modern Day
chapter-677

{Why not just kill them?} Athena interjected, offering her suggestion amidst the discussion.

Although Aron was in transit on his journey, he wasn't exempt from working. He was currently undergoing his daily morning briefing, which was being provided by the head of agencies AI.

Currently, they were discussing how to deal with the people who had been exiled by the empire. These individuals were considered irreconcilable opponents of the empire, always on the verge of causing trouble whenever they had the chance.

The reason they were discussing these exiled individuals now, despite their banishment a few years ago, was due to recent simulations. These simulations indicated that, given the empire's rapid expansion and the sudden addition of ten billion people, all in their prime and of childbearing age, their population would increase exponentially. If there were no technologically superior civilizations to threaten the empire's existence or expansion, by the time the exiles arrived at their intended new world, the empire would have already encompassed that area, rendering the exiles' plans to rule themselves moot.

"Although killing is the most efficient way to deal with these issues, it should be our last resort. If we resort to killing every time we encounter a problem, it will set a dangerous precedent." Aron said, shutting out that suggestion at once.

{How about we opt for a secret open prison approach until all of the first generation dies out?} Niyx, the AI responsible for the intelligence aspect of the empire, suggested with a smirk, as if she had already pre-thought and planned this idea. {We could then gradually influence the changes in the people of that generation and the subsequent ones before making it seem as if the empire has discovered and annexed them.}

Upon hearing her suggestion, Aron paused for a moment, considering it. Noticing her smile, he said, "I know you have a more detailed plan. Give me more details about it."

{As you wish,} Niyx replied, materializing a detailed map of the star systems where the exiled people would be arriving and starting their new lives at the center of the room. Everyone gathered around, focused with anticipation, eager to see where she was going with her plan.

{All we need to do,} Niyx continued, {is send advanced ships equipped with self-replicating nanomachines to take over one inhabited planet within each of these star systems. The nanomachines will start their replication process in advance, preparing for the exiles' arrival.

Once the exiles arrive, our nanomachine agents will integrate into the society and work in various ways—misleading, blocking, or otherwise preventing them from advancing their space and weapons technology beyond a certain level. Simultaneously, we will influence and modify their beliefs over the next few generations, eradicating ultranationalistic ideologies and other undesirable elements. Our goal is to ensure that, eventually, they are on an equal footing with the empire. After all, no matter who they are, they are still humans and were part of the empire's inception.}

There was a brief silence in the room as everyone took a few seconds to process the information, their advanced processing powers quickly digesting the details.

{As previously suggested, killing them would be the easiest solution compared to doing this,} Athena said, being the first to speak.

When the room fell silent, she added, {Either that or we could just brainwash them if killing them isn't an option.} She continued playing her role as the extremist during these meetings, reserving her more serious approach for military-related topics.

"I will think about it for now," Aron said, pausing briefly before continuing, "but you can all send me your suggestions on what we should do about them." He then looked directly at Athena and added, "That doesn’t include killing or brainwashing them."

{Okay, next topic,} Gaia, acting as secretary, announced. {The new extremist awakeners are showing signs that they plan to use your absence as an opportunity. Several groups are engaged in various activities. For more detailed information, I believe Niyx is better suited to provide that.}

Gaia immediately handed the stage over to Niyx, recognizing that she was the expert in this field and best suited to provide a more detailed briefing.

{Different groups have attempted to reach out to Miss Rina’s brother in prison, her father, and various members of both of your families.} Niyx began, providing a detailed briefing. {It appears they are trying to build connections in case something happens to you and the throne becomes open for contention.

Although your brother is the current next in line as mandated by the constitution, a regent will be needed due to his age. These groups believe that one of those family members might be selected as one of the regents. Since more than one regent is typically appointed to prevent abuse of power and to safeguard the heir, they are positioning themselves to benefit from this arrangement."

That situation pertains to the non-active groups, which doesn’t require any immediate action from our side.

Then, there are other groups attempting to use this opportunity to seize control of the empire. We are actively monitoring them with our AI and agents, and we will soon have a case prepared against them.

Additionally, we are keeping watch to see if any other groups join their ranks before deciding on the best course of action.}

"Keep monitoring them, but don’t take action just yet. We should use this opportunity to let all of them gather and reveal themselves fully. This will provide us with a believable justification and evidence to address them effectively with the imperial government."

Although they had brain scanners and other data-gathering tools on their hands, they couldn’t use that information as evidence because it would require revealing the source. This sometimes necessitated making anonymous reports to uncover already known evidence.

Additionally, some people with ulterior motives suspected the devices' capabilities to read brains and memories, so they took steps to avoid detection. Now that they were taking action, there was no need to rely on that potentially compromised knowledge, as their agents could gather the necessary information from within.

{I will do so,} Niyx said, then fell silent, allowing Gaia to proceed.

With that matter addressed, Gaia moved on to the next topic in the briefing. Given the vast size of the empire and the nearly endless list of topics, not all of which were negative, the situation was manageable for Aron.

His well-established system for selecting agency heads ensured that these briefings primarily informed him of ongoing issues and allowed him to decide whether to add anything or leave the matters to be handled by the agency leaders.